5/10 - Impressions on the one-man show ‘Österreich stinkt gut’

performed by Zaid Alsalame, directed by Lena Rucker at the Schauspielhaus Graz

This touching solo performance evoked a lot of feelings and brought forth many realisations, some of which I was aware of but never really dealt with on a conscious level. One takes one’s smell, or ‘Gestank’ (odour) as it was referred to in the show, for granted. As a matter of fact, we all take odours we encounter on a daily basis for granted, don’t give too much thought about it, accept them as such - it’s normal, right? But you don’t necessarily realise how important of a factor it is in recognising familiar surroundings, forgotten memories, evoking nostalgia, and also detecting the new, the alien, the foreigner. To keep true to what Zaid was portraying in his one-man show, I will also stick to the word that best translates ‘Gestank’ into English, which is in my humble opinion the word ‘odour’.

The stage - a black box.

I think I am starting to detect a trend at the Schauspielhaus Graz, and that’s the predominant use of stripped-down, simple black boxes as performance spaces. This show certainly wasn’t an exception, and I truly appreciate these simple, yet so potent creative choices, because it really puts your mind to work. On this occasion it allowed your imagination to work in a beautiful harmony with the touching story portrayed by the protagonist Ali. Add the jars with different odours he used throughout the performance and you are undoubtedly immersed in his/your imaginary-yet-very-tangible world(s). Ultimately, this effective directorial decision painted not only the story of Ali, but to a certain extent also our own stories, our own perspectives about our lives and what meaning we attribute to specific episodes within our lives.

This performance achieved to paint a picture of a dynamic and full-of-life city via its specific odours, ones you could recognise anywhere in the world and would immediately take you back to what you’d call home, first love, first heartbreak, first visit of a foreign country…lots of ‘firsts’. It’s also playing with your mind by juxtaposing the meaning that Ali attributes to a specific smell versus the meaning that you yourself would attribute to the same smell - and sometimes they can coincide, but most of the time they will probably differ. And so, one can conclude that not only language carries a culture, but that smell, this very intimate action AND impression, carries as much cultural meaning as language in itself.

The streets of daytime and nighttime Baghdad were therefore emerging in the eye of our minds and infused with more authenticity through the means of the odours that were passed around and so passionately talked about. An additional layer of authenticity was added through the rapid switches between German and Arabic, which in itself was beautiful to listen to, witness and experience from the perspective of the audience. The same tools and methods were then used to portray the new life emerging for the protagonist in the new country Austria - only that this time it wasn’t a mix of falafels, petrol and hotpots tracing the air of this Central European country, but much rather the odours of (almost too surgical) cleanliness, @ Schauspielhaus Graz | Constantin Lederer, Helene Thümmel

freshness and APPLES.

Though comedy and a light-heartedness were so beautifully interwoven in the play, I couldn’t help but to detect an underlying tone of sadness, of ‘Sehnsucht’ - which wouldn’t quite hit the mark in its English version and the essence of the German word would be slightly lost in translation but - it would translate into something that would be a combination of ‘yearning’ AND ‘longing’. And THAT I could feel not only from the subject matter at hand, but from the way Zaid, the actor, portrayed Ali’s new reality in Austria.

I can’t speak for other people how the essence of Ali’s story translates in their own lives, but…the struggles that he had to go through to reach a foreign country, settle in the foreign country, the hurdles he had to face with the state apparatus, the subtleties and nuances he most definitely was subjected to but also had to learn about the new country, and most importantly, in spite of all these (unfair) obstacles to deeply fall in love with the new country, I myself felt, experienced and recognised deeply! Everything he talked about struck a chord with me and my life, since I myself moved, integrated, struggled and am (still) in love with the country I chose to call home. To be able to address, evoke and bring to light such deep and highly personal feelings is honestly mind blowing, since the tools used to achieve this effect (on me) relied on the simplicity of words, language, and odours. And that in itself is an amazing creative achievement which director Lena Rucker and actor Zaid Alsalame made possible.

To find out more about this play please visit following link (German only): https://schauspielhaus-graz.buehnen-graz.com/play-detail/oesterreich-stinkt-gut/